Most toddlers thrill to the idea of dress-up games that let them adopt an exciting persona, such as that of a fearsome lion, a brave superhero, a wicked witch or a cheeky monkey. Pretend play helps kids learn social skills and allows them to act out scenarios that might prove scary or difficult in real life. Pop a mask on your toddler to achieve an instant character change without the drama of trying to clothe him -- no fiddly buttons or stuck zippers required!

Steps

1

Draw around a large paper plate on a piece of colored felt, then cut out the felt circle. Choose colored felt that suits the dress-up theme or character choice, such as yellow for a lion, black for a cat or orange for a Halloween pumpkin.

2

Place the felt circle in front of your toddler's face to locate the position of the eye holes and mouth shape. Mark the spots and remove from the toddler's face. Cut out the eye holes and mouth shape with scissors. If you prefer to make a half mask, cut the circle in half and cut out eye holes from the half circle. Use the other half to make a mask for yourself!

3

Punch a hole on each side of the mask. Cut a length of thin elastic and thread it through the holes. Let your toddler try on the mask to gauge the correct length of the elastic and then tie a knot at each end.

4

Decorate the mask using collage materials. For a wise owl mask, cut out a circle or a half circle from brown felt and then cut out large circular eye shapes. Glue on colored feathers in different shades of brown and gray, then glue on triangular-shaped felt ears and a beaky, triangular-shaped felt nose. For a Halloween pumpkin mask, cut out circular eyes, a triangular-shaped nose and a jagged mouth shape from a circle of orange felt. Cue super-villainous evil laughter sound effects!